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OVERVIEW

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Brief Synopsis

A woman emabarks on a wild search for true love.

As Moll Flanders grows up in an orphanage in the 18th century, she dreams of becoming a lady. She first seeks to realize her ambition in the home of a local mayor where she is employed as a servant. She loses her virginity to the older son and marries his younger brother, a drunkard who soon leaves her a widow. She next becomes a personal servant to the wealthy Lady Blystone and travels to London where she encounters a young highwayman, Jemmy. Jemmy thinks that Moll is Lady Blystone, and disguised as a wealthy sea captain, he courts her; but upon discovering their mutual error, they part company. Lady Blystone's Latin lover, the Count, tries to seduce Moll, and when the two are discovered, Moll loses her job. She then marries a prominent banker and promptly abandons him on their wedding night when she sees the militia chasing Jemmy. Searching for her lover, Moll joins a band of thieves led by Dutchy. She is reunited with Jemmy when they both end up in the same jail, awaiting execution. The banker visits the jail one day and dies of heart failure when he sees his wife behind bars. With the fortune left to her by the banker, Moll buys a reprieve for herself and Jemmy. Their sentence is reduced to deportation, and the two are married aboard a ship sailing away from England.